Darkspace Review: Space Battles Right at Home

When it comes to space battles, nothing can get more intense than seeing large battleships in deep space blowing each other to smithereens. The people from PaleStar brings their baby, DarkSpace up the table as an sci-fi intergalactic MMO.

What is DarkSpace

DarkSpace is a MMO that is set in the future where outer space has become the new area of interstellar warfare, political infighting and epic space battles.

You start off as a human midshipman where you are hurled into space as one of the pilots of one of the many ships the game has to offer. Your goal is to reach Grand Admiral Status within The faction that you choose.

The Factions

As you play DarkSpace you get to choose from three different factions. Each faction has its own strengths and weaknesses and that there’s each faction has its own specific ship technology tree.

The three factions include, The United Galactic Trade Organization, this faction’s ships are the well rounded types and would be the newbie friendly faction. Next is the Interstellar Cultural Confederation, this faction is the defensive faction among the three which puts most of the ships they have as sturdier and harder to take down. The third and last of the factions is the K’luth, this faction has ships that hit hard and can disappear making this faction tally as one of the favorites of a lot of players.

Being part of a faction also enables you to chat with those who belong to the same faction in-game. Inter-faction chat is not allowed by the system giving the game more of a faction and warfare feel than most space battle MMOs.

Multi-server goodnessDarkSpace has different server where players can choose to play. You get to choose from joining the Scenario servers or MetaVerse universe as the game aptly calls.

In the Scenario server, you get to play time-limited battles against one or all factions within the game. You are locked to the faction you choose until the end of the scenario or when you log out of the game. After every scenario the game wipes itself and the battle starts again.

Think of the scenario servers as temporary PVP-centric server where winners would get prestige on the amount of time you joined the scenario and of course your rank.

MetaVerse servers on the other hand are your usual servers. Think of it as the normal servers in most MMOs where you can totally customize your ship and even switch factions. There is no time limit in this servers and you can get to enjoy the game at your own pace and rhythm.

Conclusion

DarkSpace is a game where your mind is put to the test. Unlike in most games where you can easily grasp the game, you’d need a ton of patience if you want to play it in the long run. The game system is not as newbie friendly as it should be. Yes, there is a help box as you begin playing but it only tackles on the controls.

The game is more than just piloting a sleek scout or a hulking big space ship in a dark and vast area. It’s also planetary travel and warfare. The problem is, with a free account you don’t really get to enjoy the game. Up until recently, you’d need to subscribe to their service to enjoy ranking up and earning more prestige, but in the recent turn of events even paid accounts may now increase their rank, though this may seem only temporary.

The leveling system is linear and simple which helps lessen the difficulty of going through the game. Also, the reward of getting better ships as you raise your ranks adds to the military/adventure element further enhancing the game’s authentic sci-fi space battle feel.

The one thing that bugs me in the game is that you would need you to subscribe to be part of the experience wholly. The account subscription in exchange to raising your rank is the thing that can really turn you off if you are looking for a game that doesn’t need to make you spend money to enjoy.

Furthermore, with the graphics of this game I’d suggest that you give it a second thought. The ships are not that well crafted and that it’s sometimes hard to determine which structure is which. Also the tedious travel can be a pain, the game play is already in a strategic gameplay pace, and it doesn’t need long journeys to make the game slower.

If you are into epic space travel and intense, Star Trek-like battles then Dark Space is a game for you. That is if you can stomach the outdated graphics and even the lack of BGM. Frankly speaking though, these game details are not that noticeable except that after travelling in the vastness of space, having no BGM or that seeing only darkness for quite for overextended periods of time can really rack up on your nerves.

If you are the type of player who likes good graphics, fast paced action and adrenaline pumping space battle ship fights, I’d suggest you go for other games cause DarkSpace wouldn’t surely make you reconsider.

However, If you are not that much of a nitpick when it comes to your space battles, ship design planetary gameplay and what not and you just want to enjoy a game that reminds you of Star Trek in more ways than one, I’d like to suggest this game to you. As a fan of Star Trek who wouldn’t love seeing sprites that remind you of how space warfare is done in that galaxy far, far away.

Pros– The game gives of the authentic space battle feel– Tons of ships to choose from– The game is more than just battles

Cons– The game is definitely a soloist game– The graphics and look is outdated– The game isn’t newbie friendly